Tim Russert gathered the usual suspects to evaluate the past year. As befitting his idea of diversity, the panel of journalists included a black, a woman and a conservative. They said many of the usual things except for Jon Meacham of Newsweek. Note Russert's surprised response:

MR. MEACHAM: I think in the media we should be breaking the news and not being the news so much. I think that we have in a way been to much of a player on the stage as ourselves this year, and I think we...

MR. RUSSERT: How do you avoid that?

MR. MEACHAM: I think you just work like hell to get it right and to understand the biographical and human forces on the other guy, on the institutions you're covering. Know that the other institutions are as fallible as yours and with a measure of charity and dignity and respect you write and cover other institutions as you would want to be covered.